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Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis
A 1982 radical feminist anthology edited by Robin Ruth Linden, Darlene R. Pagano, Diana E. H. Russell, and Susan Leigh Star. The essays in the book critique sadomasochism and BDSM from a feminist perspective, with most of the contributors identifying sadomasochism as rooted in "patriarchal sexual ideology".
The compilation includes essays by a variety of radical feminists such as Alice Walker, Robin Morgan, Kathleen Barry, Diana E. H. Russell, Susan Leigh Star, Ti-Grace Atkinson, John Stoltenberg, Sarah Lucia Hoagland, Susan Griffin, Cheri Lesh, and Judy Butler. The anthology also includes an interview between Audre Lorde and Susan Leigh Star.
The essays address issues such as whether lesbian feminism is compatible with sadomasochism, S/M's similarities with pornography, and the connections between sadomasochism and racism. Several essays criticize Samois, a BDSM organization founded by and for lesbians.
The compilation includes essays by a variety of radical feminists such as Alice Walker, Robin Morgan, Kathleen Barry, Diana E. H. Russell, Susan Leigh Star, Ti-Grace Atkinson, John Stoltenberg, Sarah Lucia Hoagland, Susan Griffin, Cheri Lesh, and Judy Butler. The anthology also includes an interview between Audre Lorde and Susan Leigh Star.
The essays address issues such as whether lesbian feminism is compatible with sadomasochism, S/M's similarities with pornography, and the connections between sadomasochism and racism. Several essays criticize Samois, a BDSM organization founded by and for lesbians.
212 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1983
12 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Robin Ruth Linden
2 books1 followerRobin Ruth Linden is a writer and sociologist whose research has explored women's health, the politics of technomedicine, the Holocaust, reflexive ethnography and life histories. She received the Helen Hooven Santmyer Prize in women's studies and was the Associate Dean of the Graduate School for Holistic Studies at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, CA. Her major works include Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis (editor), Making Stories, Making Selves: Feminist Reflections on the Holocaust (author) and AIDS on the Ground: Service Learning in a Global Epidemic (coauthored with Carolyn Laub).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 23, 2012
Women and minorities have made much progress for equal rights, but sexual liberty is still lacking. We have become alienated from our bodies as well as each other. The focus has been on sex and fantasy; we have forgotten the vision of purpose that comes from developing a meaning of love. But we cannot realize this if we do not completely revolutionize our patterns of thought and behavior in society.
The most intimate act between two adults is sex. Since it does not occur in a bubble, in order for us to effect change in the deepest sense of our beings in the present and future, we must look at major views towards sex in the past. This book offers many essays in regards to the pervasiveness as sadomasochism, much more than the new fringe 'lifestyle' known as bdsm - it is about unequal power relationships, in particular that of patriarchy in which men control women to guarantee sex; their orgasms being deemed more important than a woman's dignity. The question is not about consent or denying that sex is a need, but about what one is consenting to. Sexual objectification denies the feelings and humanness, of individuality, of "other." It is a precursor to degradation, and has simply taken other forms - covert, reworded, disguised under pretenses of consent, trust, free choice, and desire (assuming that all desires are good).
The most intimate act between two adults is sex. Since it does not occur in a bubble, in order for us to effect change in the deepest sense of our beings in the present and future, we must look at major views towards sex in the past. This book offers many essays in regards to the pervasiveness as sadomasochism, much more than the new fringe 'lifestyle' known as bdsm - it is about unequal power relationships, in particular that of patriarchy in which men control women to guarantee sex; their orgasms being deemed more important than a woman's dignity. The question is not about consent or denying that sex is a need, but about what one is consenting to. Sexual objectification denies the feelings and humanness, of individuality, of "other." It is a precursor to degradation, and has simply taken other forms - covert, reworded, disguised under pretenses of consent, trust, free choice, and desire (assuming that all desires are good).
February 27, 2024
read this against my will. i do not fuck with any of these views like they simultaneously admit that power is a part of all relationships but then slam the idea of power play in sexual intimacy. in my opinion, power is inherently erotic. whether than be as a result of our society’s exaltation of power or of some natural tendency, i don’t really care. bottom of the line, let people do what they want! jealous of the freaks fr!!! let us be!
July 31, 2013
This sort of book and these kinds of essays are why I absolutely can't side with feminists.
There's zero understanding of the topic.
There's zero understanding of the topic.
February 2, 2025
so many amazing essays on the harms of sado-masochism specifically within the lesbian community. essential reading especially with the rise in these dynamics being displayed. did get a little repetitive but that did get the point across very effectively. the tools of the patriarchy will never be liberation!
January 28, 2022
I think that, as a whole, the anthology is extreamly repetitive. In one form or another, all the essays deal with Saomoi's pamphlet "Which Color is your Handkerchief?", a small self-published anthology of lesbian S/M, the predecessor of the (in-famous) anthology "Coming to Power".
The main argument of all the authors is that Saomoi's position does not take in account the structural differences in the origin of S/M fantasies. I think the argument is solid and clear, but if you repeat the same idea so many times, you would probably feel more overwhelmed than convinced.
The main argument of all the authors is that Saomoi's position does not take in account the structural differences in the origin of S/M fantasies. I think the argument is solid and clear, but if you repeat the same idea so many times, you would probably feel more overwhelmed than convinced.
September 28, 2025
what the hell, sure
June 24, 2024
A WIDE-RANGING COLLECTION OF FEMINIST ESSAYS CRITICAL OF S/M
This 1982 book contains essays by writers such as Sally Roesch Wagner, Kathleen Barry, Audre Lorde, Ti-Grace Atkinson, Robin Morgan, John Stoltenberg, Diana E.H. Russell, Susan Griffin, Alice Walker, and many more.
Co-editor Robin Ruth Linden wrote in the Introduction, “I live in the Castro district of San Francisco, a gay quarter of the city… As a woman alone, I feel like a visitor to a foreign country… It is commonplace to see men with black leather collars and leashes around their necks to indicate they are sexual ‘slaves’---masochists; men with padlocks clasped around their throats… men in military uniforms sometimes bearing swastikas… I have become accustomed to seeing men wearing the paraphernalia of sadomasochism… But recently there is an occasional woman in similar dress… What is sadomasochism? Why has it emerged as a concern of feminists and women’s communities in recent years?... [This book] is an effort to pose and critically explore these questions.” (Pg. 1-2) She adds, “Throughout [this book] it is argued that lesbian sadomasochism is firmly rooted in patriarchal sexual ideology, with its emphasis on the fragmentation of desire from the rest of our lives and the single-minded pursuit of gratification, sexual and otherwise.” (Pg. 4)
Marissa Jonel said in her essay, ‘Letter from a Former Masochist,’ “all this [BS] about consensual sex, changing roles back and forth, safe words, etc., ad nauseum---is, to my mind, just a cover that encouraged women to be violent. Sadomasochism is violence.” (Pg. 19)
Susan Leigh Star interviews Audre Lorde, who tells her, “Sadomasochism is an institutionalized celebration of dominant/subordinate relationships. And it PREPARES us either to accept subordination or to enforce dominance… Often, white gay men are working NOT to change the system. This is one of the reasons why the gay male movement is as white as it is… I see no essential battle between many gay men and the white male establishment… many gay white males are being pulled by the same strings as other white men in this society. You do not get people to work against what they have identified as their basic self-interest.” (Pg. 68-69)
Bat-Ami Bar On suggests, “There is certainly a place and a need for progressive tolerance of the practice of sadomasochism. But feminists who defend the practice of sadomasochism call for much more than progressive tolerance. They call for social acceptance and approval. Yet their arguments are too weak for justify a stronger call… The principal weakness of these arguments is that they do not address feminist objections to the practice of sadomasochism.” (Pg. 74-75)
John Stoltenberg observes, “Essentially, sadism in both its cultural and individual manifestations is characterized by the eroticization of violence---that is, the causing of pain, suffering, or death is experienced by the person who commits those acts as genitally stimulating and orgasmically gratifying. Masochism is essentially the eroticization of powerlessness---it is an erotic drove toward pain, abuse, degradation, and annihilation, which are believed to be deserved because of one’s powerlessness condition. For most women in this male-supremacist culture, as Andrea Dworkin has written, sexual masochism makes sensate the cultural judgments of female inferiority and female malignity.” (Pg. 126)
Sarah Lucia Hoagland points out, “it is ridiculous to assume that ANY of us has not been infected erotically, and in all other areas, by the patriarchal ideology of authority, of dominance and submission. Further, the idea that we should explore all possible areas of eroticism is incredible. Eroticism, like appetite, is malleable (as evidenced by the fact that some Lesbian sadists and masochists can no longer enjoy ‘vanilla’ sex when once they did). And while repression, sexual and otherwise, can shape our erotic response, so can dominance and submission.” (Pg. 155)
Diana E.H. Russell argues, “Samois, a lesbian S/M group, defends such behavior as healthy and compatible with feminism, and even proselytizes in favor of it. This is about the most contra-feminist, anti-political and bourgeois stance that I can imagine… Feminism rejects unequal sexual and love relationships. Samois’ use of the term ‘slave’ as a desirable label for the masochist in a sadomasochist relationship is not only problematic for non-Black feminists; it is a monumental insensitivity to Black people in this country who had to endure slavery for so long. The word slave connotes no choice. To assert that a slave role can be chosen makes a mockery of our history.” (Pg. 176-177)
This book will be “must reading” for feminists interested in this controversial area.
This 1982 book contains essays by writers such as Sally Roesch Wagner, Kathleen Barry, Audre Lorde, Ti-Grace Atkinson, Robin Morgan, John Stoltenberg, Diana E.H. Russell, Susan Griffin, Alice Walker, and many more.
Co-editor Robin Ruth Linden wrote in the Introduction, “I live in the Castro district of San Francisco, a gay quarter of the city… As a woman alone, I feel like a visitor to a foreign country… It is commonplace to see men with black leather collars and leashes around their necks to indicate they are sexual ‘slaves’---masochists; men with padlocks clasped around their throats… men in military uniforms sometimes bearing swastikas… I have become accustomed to seeing men wearing the paraphernalia of sadomasochism… But recently there is an occasional woman in similar dress… What is sadomasochism? Why has it emerged as a concern of feminists and women’s communities in recent years?... [This book] is an effort to pose and critically explore these questions.” (Pg. 1-2) She adds, “Throughout [this book] it is argued that lesbian sadomasochism is firmly rooted in patriarchal sexual ideology, with its emphasis on the fragmentation of desire from the rest of our lives and the single-minded pursuit of gratification, sexual and otherwise.” (Pg. 4)
Marissa Jonel said in her essay, ‘Letter from a Former Masochist,’ “all this [BS] about consensual sex, changing roles back and forth, safe words, etc., ad nauseum---is, to my mind, just a cover that encouraged women to be violent. Sadomasochism is violence.” (Pg. 19)
Susan Leigh Star interviews Audre Lorde, who tells her, “Sadomasochism is an institutionalized celebration of dominant/subordinate relationships. And it PREPARES us either to accept subordination or to enforce dominance… Often, white gay men are working NOT to change the system. This is one of the reasons why the gay male movement is as white as it is… I see no essential battle between many gay men and the white male establishment… many gay white males are being pulled by the same strings as other white men in this society. You do not get people to work against what they have identified as their basic self-interest.” (Pg. 68-69)
Bat-Ami Bar On suggests, “There is certainly a place and a need for progressive tolerance of the practice of sadomasochism. But feminists who defend the practice of sadomasochism call for much more than progressive tolerance. They call for social acceptance and approval. Yet their arguments are too weak for justify a stronger call… The principal weakness of these arguments is that they do not address feminist objections to the practice of sadomasochism.” (Pg. 74-75)
John Stoltenberg observes, “Essentially, sadism in both its cultural and individual manifestations is characterized by the eroticization of violence---that is, the causing of pain, suffering, or death is experienced by the person who commits those acts as genitally stimulating and orgasmically gratifying. Masochism is essentially the eroticization of powerlessness---it is an erotic drove toward pain, abuse, degradation, and annihilation, which are believed to be deserved because of one’s powerlessness condition. For most women in this male-supremacist culture, as Andrea Dworkin has written, sexual masochism makes sensate the cultural judgments of female inferiority and female malignity.” (Pg. 126)
Sarah Lucia Hoagland points out, “it is ridiculous to assume that ANY of us has not been infected erotically, and in all other areas, by the patriarchal ideology of authority, of dominance and submission. Further, the idea that we should explore all possible areas of eroticism is incredible. Eroticism, like appetite, is malleable (as evidenced by the fact that some Lesbian sadists and masochists can no longer enjoy ‘vanilla’ sex when once they did). And while repression, sexual and otherwise, can shape our erotic response, so can dominance and submission.” (Pg. 155)
Diana E.H. Russell argues, “Samois, a lesbian S/M group, defends such behavior as healthy and compatible with feminism, and even proselytizes in favor of it. This is about the most contra-feminist, anti-political and bourgeois stance that I can imagine… Feminism rejects unequal sexual and love relationships. Samois’ use of the term ‘slave’ as a desirable label for the masochist in a sadomasochist relationship is not only problematic for non-Black feminists; it is a monumental insensitivity to Black people in this country who had to endure slavery for so long. The word slave connotes no choice. To assert that a slave role can be chosen makes a mockery of our history.” (Pg. 176-177)
This book will be “must reading” for feminists interested in this controversial area.
January 23, 2009
A fascinating collection of articles from very prominent feminists in the 1970s and 1980s who were (obviously) against sadomasochism. They present a bogus argument that sadomasochism perpetuates the anti-fem attitude implicit in our society by mirroring the power differentials that define male/female relationships. They do not present the opposing view, however, so the reader is forced to go elsewhere for a well-rounded understanding of this issue.
December 26, 2021
Not written to convince or persuade anyone who doesn't already agree... This is just a collection of essays suited to serve people who already agree's confirmation bias... W/ no research cited, or academic sources, this is emotional opinion piece after emotional opinion piece, most lacking critical thinking.
December 15, 2025
Read for the important part of thesis research that is engaging with sources that disagree with you. I didn't like this, but then of course I wasn't really expecting to, and that wasn't the point of reading it. So much of this book operates under the misogynistic assumption that women can't fully consent to taboo sexual acts like sadomasochism, that even if women may think they enjoy being masochistic, they are just deluding themselves. It's wild to me that people who disbelieve in women's sexual agency like this can call themselves feminists. The authors repeatedly refuse to engage with things that would disprove their opinions--sadism is associated with men or masculine sexuality, masochism is associated with women or feminine sexuality. There is limited engagement on femme tops, masc bottoms, and switches, and they are quickly glossed over when they are mentioned (despite comprising a large portion of the BDSM community). The existence of people of color in the BDSM community is also either glossed over, willfully ignored or, again, treated as marginalized people's supposed inability to consent to sex.
I think it's worth mentioning that a lot of "big name" feminists are included in this book: Audre Lorde, Judith Butler, Alice Walker... it's disappointing but not surprising to me that so many of the most mainstreamed feminists today were on the anti-sex side of the lesbian sex wars--but then, it's not really surprising that mainstream society would find these anti-sex, pro-bodily control ideas more palatable than those of true sexual liberation.
I do want to mention that at least some of these essays are written from a place of sexual trauma. And that's so sad, and I have a lot of compassion for anyone who's been abused, especially under the guise of kink. I have my own trauma around sex that I've had to work through. But no amount of trauma excuses oppressing a marginalized group.
I think it's worth mentioning that a lot of "big name" feminists are included in this book: Audre Lorde, Judith Butler, Alice Walker... it's disappointing but not surprising to me that so many of the most mainstreamed feminists today were on the anti-sex side of the lesbian sex wars--but then, it's not really surprising that mainstream society would find these anti-sex, pro-bodily control ideas more palatable than those of true sexual liberation.
I do want to mention that at least some of these essays are written from a place of sexual trauma. And that's so sad, and I have a lot of compassion for anyone who's been abused, especially under the guise of kink. I have my own trauma around sex that I've had to work through. But no amount of trauma excuses oppressing a marginalized group.
December 2, 2022
Let's give this a pass given that it is written so long ago. The thing is that I hear these same arguments showing up today when we should have moved past some of these positions. There seems to be an intrinsic idea that the issues with sadomasochism is situated in the patriarchy and masculinity.
There is an accepted duality that pits this against loving and sensuous relationships. The main issue for me is that there is an ascription of certain behaviours and attributes as being masculine or feminine. It ignores that many of these things are just human behaviours that we have been conditioned to treat as masculine or feminine. It appears that only desirable ones are labeled as something that feminists want.
There isn't a lot more than politics and humanities in here. Now, let's say that this was written in the early days of modern feminist thought and leave it there. I just wish that we would go back and start to look at these beginnings again as some of the same problems that we are falling into again can be seen presaged in these early writings.
We can do better than say it is just the patriarchy. We can do better by examining our own humanity and being honest with what makes us tick. Only then can we start to talk about what a more equitable society would look like.
There is an accepted duality that pits this against loving and sensuous relationships. The main issue for me is that there is an ascription of certain behaviours and attributes as being masculine or feminine. It ignores that many of these things are just human behaviours that we have been conditioned to treat as masculine or feminine. It appears that only desirable ones are labeled as something that feminists want.
There isn't a lot more than politics and humanities in here. Now, let's say that this was written in the early days of modern feminist thought and leave it there. I just wish that we would go back and start to look at these beginnings again as some of the same problems that we are falling into again can be seen presaged in these early writings.
We can do better than say it is just the patriarchy. We can do better by examining our own humanity and being honest with what makes us tick. Only then can we start to talk about what a more equitable society would look like.
April 30, 2025
Against Sadomasochism was such a healing read after trudging through its predecessor and the book it was written in response to, Coming to Power. The varied essays and letters cover an impressive amount of ground on such a "niche" topic. I would suggest this to anyone who is interested in arguments against BDSM as well as personal accounts of past practitioners, but especially to lesbians that have no doubt been hounded by pro-kink messaging.
May 16, 2024
as vital and refreshing today as it was the day it was published.
June 6, 2024
the book has a couple of good and valid points and complaints, but why do they keep comparing BDSM with nazism??
April 4, 2011
Two or three stupendously good essays, a lot of kinda average ones, and at least one that was just weird.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews